Hi! My name is Iris.

Looking back on my education and career, I’ve always been interested in the intersection between technology and humans. I have a BSc. in AI and an MSc. in Cognitive Neuropsychology. For the past 12+ years I’ve worked as a product manager across a range of companies and industries. Recently I took some time to rethink my  career and how I can make more impact. This search led me to AI alignment and responsible AI.

Some keywords

curious, analytical, creative, honest, open, rational, spiritual

Quote about me:

“Iris’ talent is modesty, calmness, focus, an open-inquiring mind, and determination to iterate as long as needed to achieve goals. She can make whole teams shine, easing through difficult decisions, without anybody on the team noticing the complexity they just went through.”

Responsible AI

Earlier this year, I heard about Rutger Bregman’s book Moral Ambition and the corresponding “School for Moral Ambition”. This really resonated with me, as I have always felt the urge to be more impactful with my work. I am an empathic person and strongly feel I want to contribute in a positive way to the world, while making best use of my talents. In April I started a so-called Moral Ambition Circle, a group which challenges individuals to shift their careers towards more morally ambitious goals—endeavors that can make a substantial positive impact on society. During this process I have come to be interested in working on AI safety and responsible AI. I see the importance of ensuring that AI is used responsibly and in the long term will not pose massive risks to humanity.

I am currently undertaking several efforts to develop myself in this field:

• I am participating in Bluedot’s AI Alignment course. I have also applied to their AI Governance course.
• I have been reading articles and have purchased several books:
  • The Alignment Problem (currently reading)
  • Human Compatible
  • Life 3.0
  • The Big Nine
• I will soon start a Dutch newsletter on Substack about responsible AI.
• I have started a Udemy course to improve my ML skills.
• I have reached out to several people in the field here in the Netherlands, to speak to them more about their work and where I might fit best.
• I have attended a few AI meetups in Amsterdam and online.
• Ongoing, I am applying to roles in this field.

Product Management

In school, college and then work, I’ve always been interested in STEM, but also subjects such as psychology. This broad interest is what lead me to study artificial intelligence back in 2003 (combining computer science and psychology) and then to a career in product management. When I learned that product management combined technology, user experience and business, I knew this was the career for me. I love designing and developing software products. In particular, I am interested in sustainable and ethical technology.

More about my product management work.

Digital Wellbeing

Around 2019, I added digital wellbeing to my professional interests. I have become aware how technology can get in the way of our humanness, our creativity and our focus. This has lead me to not only be interested in making technology work for people, but also in helping people figure out how to manage technology in their lives. I see how important it is for us in modern times to have techniques like breathing and mindfulness to stay in touch with our bodies, intuition and creativity.

Learn more about my digital wellbeing company Waives.

Yoga, consciousness, spirituality

I started practicing yoga already while studying in San Diego back in 2002. At first it was simply a nice relaxing class once a week, but in 2013 it became a daily practice. This is when I started clearly noticing the effect yoga was having off the mat: feeling more relaxed, more connected to others and more in touch with my body and feelings. In 2017 I did an immersive yoga teacher training, which was very transformative. It brought home a deep sense of connection, the need to not only be present in the head but also the heart. I learned that changing my breathing completely changed how I felt and being more in touch with my body and emotions made me feel much more fully human. Since then I have been on a path of not only intellectual but also spiritual curiosity and am eager to share with others the profound impact this has made on my life.

I am also very interested in consciousness and how both eastern traditions and western science view this phenomenon.

Some of my other interests:

• science: physics, mathematics, (neuro)psychology, behavioral economics
• surfing, bouldering, crossfit
• (modern) art